Your first home theater experience? (1 Viewer)

[Shad R]

Just for fun. What was the first movie you saw in surround sound, in a home theater. Not digital surround, just plain old surround. The movie/demo you heard that GOT YOU INTO THIS DAMNED HOBBIE!
Here's my story...
I was 14, and True Lies had just come out on video. I was sitting at home, bored, flipping through the channels. My friend comes over, and says "hey, I just rented True Lies. You should come over and watch it!" I asked him why we couldn't just watch it at my house, since he was already there, and he said he wanted to watch it on his dad's TV(cause it was bigger) He also said his dad got a new stereo. I was game. I went over, and I'll never forget this. We went into an almost dark basement, with the blue glow of the fish tank right when you walk down the stiars. His dad was watching sports talk(without the "stereo" turned on. just tv speakers.) My friend told his dad what movie we had, and said "POP it in" That's when it happened. WE ff'd the previews and went right to the movie, and...IT WASN'T JUST A STEREO SYSTEM, IT WAS DOLBY PRO LOGIC SURROUND! Although, now I'm sure it would sound crappy compared to my system, it was amazing at the time. I remember bullets flying over my head, the explosion sounded cool, and the jet flyover was amazing! That is what got me into this whole thing. just curious as to your first home theater experience.

 

[Adam Wolkoff]

Jurrasic Park in Dolby Pro Logic.
The scene where the dinos jump over the log with humans hiding underneath sold me on the whole thing.
The Lion King sealed the deal
ASW

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

My first REAL tape was the original version of "Batman" which my mom picked up for me second hand when our pre-Hollywood Video mom-n-pop video store went under. We'd rented before, and taped off television, but this was my first real professional tape. I've since lost it, which is too bad as it's one of the many truly great things I remember my mother for. The first tape I bought was the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition (right before it went OOP, during the pre-Episode I rush)
My first DVD was Independence Day because that came as a gift the same Christmas we got our DVD player (again from my mother ). The first DVD I purchased on my own (second DVD) was Mallrats. Me and Mallrats go back a ways, to that infamous first ABC broadcast (a true creative effort).
Good topic!!!
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My DVD Collection
My Preorders
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Potter is coming...

 

[Wes]

I stopped by an electronics store back in the early 80s and saw Empire Strikes Back on a big screen TV and Laser disc. This was the first "Home Theater" system I had seen and it left me in total amazement.
The first Surround was Top Gun in 1987-88ish at a used high end audio store. I went right out and bought a Memorex Dolby Surround processor that day, I already had a HiFi VHS and a stereo set up.
Wes
[Edited last by Wes on November 06, 2001 at 10:30 PM]

 

[Tom Oh]

First for me was LD Jurassic Park. First DVDs were Tomorrow Never Dies S.E. and Armageddon CC. Needless to say, I was very happy with my first purchases.
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[MikeF]

The father of a buddy of mine from high school owned the highest-end audio & video specialty shop in Canada. Their basement featured a custom-designed home theater, including what had to have been a 200-250" front projection display and all the audiophile shit you could shake a stick at.
First film I watched there was T2 -- on laserdisc, of course.
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My oh so exciting DVD collection.

 

[Scott_MacD]

The Matrix on a friend's laserdisc in crisp PCM Dolby ProLogic.. After a quick explanation of widescreen and a viewing of Star Wars, I took a small overdraft and ran to the nearest electronics store and walked out with a DVD player and 4 DVDs. Never looked back, guys..

 

[Neil Joseph]

This is copied directly from my homepage...
It all started after my mono VCR decided to break. I purchased my first 4 head Hi-Fi stereo VCR and my first movie (Jurassic Park) and hooked it up to my stereo receiver with two tower speakers. I was blown away and the rest is history. Since that time, there have been a few upgrades. These include upgrading from a 27" to a 32" TV and finally an overhead projector. The receiver has changed from the original stereo receiver to a Dolby Digital/dts receiver. Originally I had a JBL flik, front and surround speaker package, JBL book shelf speakers and a 50W Kenwood subwoofer. Now I have the matching PSB setup.
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My Favourite DVD's

 

[NathanP]

"Clifford" with Martin Short, on my friends DPL shelf system..
Now that was awesome.
I asked "Man, That sounds awesome!, I wonder what DD 5.1 sounds like???"
Nathan

 

[Larry Sutliff]

While in a video store circa 1985, I heard a demo of Beta Hi-Fi. They had a Sony demo tape that used clips from APOCALYPSE NOW("Flight of the Valkyries"), RAIDERS and STAR TREK II. I was blown away and knew I had to have one of those Beta Hi-Fi machines, even though I already had a ton of stuff taped off of television in VHS. I got a cheap Sanyo model and bought RAIDERS and SUPERMAN(for a whopping 70 bucks) along with a small cheap Technics receiver and Radio Shack speakers. Not the greatest system, but it blew me(and my friends) away. Within a couple of years I got a VHS Hi-Fi machine(Beta was, sadly, on it's way out), a Pioneer surround sound receiver(not Pro-Logic but something older and cruder) and some cheapo speakers for the surround channels. STAR TREK IV sounded awesome this way. Mid nineties a laser player, a Pro Logic receiver and laserdiscs of BATMAN and SUPERMAN convinced me that I needed a better television. So I got a 32" RCA that held me over until this spring when I got a 40" widescreen set to go along with my two DVD players and 2 laser players. I think I'll watch my new STAR TREK:TMP DVD tonight.

 

[Jason Whyte]

In 1990, when my dad bought our first laserdisc player. The first LD was Top Gun in FULL FRAME, but WHOA....I was hooked. AND LOOKIE AT ME NOW!
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[email protected] 2001 Film List I Am Jack's DVD List
ICQ: 16733922 AOL IM: JayLo Whyte
"THERE IS...NO....BAND....and yet...we HEAR a band." Mulholland Drive

 

[Jesse Skeen]

"Karate Kid" on VHS Hi-Fi, 1985.

 

[Michael Caicedo]

Circa 1993. Went to a co-workers house to check out a bike my friend was interested in and he was selling. After we looked at the bike he took us into his media room. Whoa Nelly!!! Full on a/v setup with $10k infinity speakers and other equipment worth over $100k. Pops in a Sarah Vaughn CD and I swear she's standing right there singing to us. Then he loads Terminator laserdisc and we look at it on his front projection setup. Awesome. It would be a couple of years before I found out a could afford my own equipment without shelling out $100k, but that was my first experience that got me really interested in this.
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Michael Caicedo
Winter Park, FL
- At my signal, unleash hell...

 

[NickSo]

I've (well my dad) had DPL since i can remember...

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The So Family Home Theater!
http://www.multimania.com/sonick182/ht/index.html
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[ChrisV]

HAHA, mine was Top Gun too.
My uncle had build a home theatre room in his basement, and we were over there for a party. Well, I was wandering around upstairs and all of a sudden the floor was shaking. Needless to say, I had to go see what was happening, so I went downstairs and was blown away by big screen, big sound. Very cool.
Now that happens in my living room! HT rules!